Black Spire III: A Twisted King

The Alkerathi Empire

Centuries ago, the humans were united under one banner – they called themselves the Alkerath then, and their land the Alkerathi Empire. Those days are but a memory, though the oldest of the elves can still recall its fall.

The Alkerath came from across the eastern sea, borne by great ships and commanded by the ambitious Prince Alister. They migrated westwards until they settled in verdant valleys, west of The Silver Kingdom. They warred with the Elves, and cut the elven lands in half – separating The Greenwood from Cloudspire – and cut out swaths from the Greenwood to settle in. When the war was over, the prince declared himself Emperor, and a Golden Age of Man began. It would last for three centuries. To this day, humans frequently name both boys and girls after the First Emperor.

It was the red dragon Razethar that caused the fall of Alkerath, almost three centuries ago. Empress Alyssa III, seeing the prosperity of the dwarves, sought the protection of a draconic patron. The metallic dragons refused, but Razethar stepped forth, claiming he had been watching the race of Men for some time and was willing to make an offer. He was invited to the council.

There, Razethar coldly accused Empress Alyssa of being a bastard. The true lineage of Emperor Alister, he claimed, lay with the ambitious (and famously hot-headed) General Ashcor, a man who had been arguing for a second war against the elves for years. Perhaps it was Razethar’s plan to see his ancient enemies destroyed – but the plan failed. Rather than bow to their new Emperor, the humans descended into civil war.

In the ensuing chaos, Razethar was allegedly slain by a band of human heroes, Empress Alyssa was brutally killed along with her entire family, and the would-be Emperor Ashcor initiated a futile assault on the elves, dying on the battlefield. With all possible traces of the Imperial lineage gone, the Empire quickly splintered into a multitude of small kingdoms.